Page 4 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, November 9, 1990
WIig Midjiyrn fll
EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS
AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
420 Maynard Street
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109
NOAH FINKEL
Editor in Chief
DAVID SCHWARTZ
Opinion Editor
Unsigned editorials represent a majority of the Daily's Editorial Board. All other cartoons,
signed articles, and letters do not necessarily represent the opinion of the Daily.
..........From th.Daiy
High on grass
Officials plan to hit up regents for stadium sod
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LATER THIS MONTH, THE BOARD
of Regents is expected to legalize grass
- natural grass that is, in Michigan
Stadium, as opposed to the artificial
turf which has carpeted the playing sur-
face since 1969.
The move is a good one for several
reasons. First, there is some evidence
demonstrating that natural grass will
both decrease the number of player in-
juries and speed up the injury-recovery
process. The surface is much softer
and can better cushion the falls of play-
ers.
Natural grass will alsoenhance the
traditional atmosphere of old-fashioned
football Saturdays. But the cost for this
shift is considerable - approximately
$1.1 million, compared to about
$650,000 to replace the artificial carpet.
The money will be drawn from Athletic
Department reserves, which are funded
primarily, through private donations.
The system Athletic Department of-
ficials want to install is called the Pre-
scription Athletic Turf. One of the ad-
vantages of this grass is that a vacuum
pumping system will be installed under
the sod which will suck moisture down
into a pipe network - no more rivers
and streams on the field during rainy
game days. And during long dry
spells, the process can be reversed to
serve as a natural water source for the
grass without the installation of an ex-
pensive sprinkler system.
Although the cost is significant, the
University will save money in the long
run because the grass will never have
to be replaced. It might also bring back
the "three yards and a cloud of dust"
style of play, which is traditionally as-
sociated with natural grass playing
fields.
Thedreduction of injuries, though
not assured, can be reasonably ex-
pected, and the coaching staff supports
the move. Iowa installed a similar sys-
tem this year and the Hawkeye football
team reports a clear decrease in injuries
this season. This may be one reason
why Iowa currently leads the confer-
ence.
If the regents are willing to fork out
some green cash for green grass, the
Wolverines may soon be tip-toeing
once again through the red Roses in
Pasadena.
0
ACT-UP supporters suffer from rift
By Paul Carmouche,
Ron DeLine and Jim O'Donnell
sensitivity
Will 'U' cops be more aware of student con'cerns?
ON CAMPUSES AROUND THE NA-
tion, armed security forces have a his-
tory of violating students' civil rights.
At Western Michigan University, a
deputized officer shot someone in the
back last year for exhibiting "erratic"
behavior. Last spring in East Lansing,
a Michigan State deputized officer
stuck his hand underneath a woman's
shirt while arresting her during a
protest.
The University administration
claims its deputized security officers
,will act differently - that the new
deputized security force will be
"sensitive" to students' concerns about
uncontrolled police violence. To ensure
this, administration officials said they
would conduct a nationwide search for
suitable candidates, and put them
through a rigorous training program
designed to promote an understanding
of campus affairs.
Their search has had little success.
Though the Department of Public
Safety (DPS) is now training eight of-
ficers to be deputized, all eight candi-
dates are already employed by DPS.
Now that officers will be carrying
guns and making arrests, one would
think they would receive even more
classroom training. But leaders of the
student movement against deputization
are alleging that officers being trained
now are in fact receiving less training
than safety officers hired four years
ago.
The gap between the administra-
tion's stated intentions for the campus
police force and its consistent action to
the contrary shows the administration's
inability to practice what it preaches -
especially when dealing with student
safety.
For example, the administration
claims to have given the Sexual Assault
Prevention and Awareness Center
(SAPAC) "improved facilities for ex-
panded programming," according to
Director Julie Steiner. But she points
out that part of the money for the new
office space came out of the SAPAC
budget.
"We can't expand out program with
out an expanded budget," Steiner says.
"We didn't get an expanded budget."
SAPAC has not received a funding in-
crease in more than three years.
After finding spending millions of
additional dollars for its own police
force, the administration should be able
to scrape together funds from tuition
increases to introduce and expand more
proven methods of crime prevention.
The AIDS crisis is deepening. Between
one and two million people have been in-
fected in the United States alone, with the
Black, Latino and gay communities being
hit hardest. We need massive funding for
AIDS research, treatment and education, as
well as a nationalized healthcare system
under worker/client control to provide
healthcare for all.
Instead, the corporations, and the gov-
ernment and media which serve them, give
us nothing but racism, sexism and anti-
lesbian/gay hysteria. The newest budget
cuts will actually reduce the amount of
government spending on AIDS.
The need for a mass movement to fight
AIDS is greater then ever. Efforts to build
the Ann Arbor component of that move-
ment are underway, but suffered a setback
in October when the right-wing of ACT-
UP (the AIDS Coalition to Unleash
Power) split out of the organization.
Disagreements had developed within
ACT-UP over a number of issues. One
key difference was over self-defense. Those
of us on the left-wing argued that when we
march on Adrian, we need defense teams in
case of violence directed against us by
anti-lesbian/gay counter-demonstrators.
The right-wing of ACT-UP accused us of
being "alarmist" and put forward a resolu-
tion meant to declare ACT-UP non-vio-
lent.
Another disagreement arose over how
ACT-UP should fight racism. Those of us
on the left-wing of ACT-UP argued for
mass demonstrations against the institu-
tional manifestations of racism in health-
care and in general. The right-wing of
The writers are members of the AIDS
Coalition To Unleash Power (ACT-UP)
in Ann Arbor.
The need for a mass movement to fight AIDS is
greater then ever. Efforts to build the Ann Arbor
component of that movement are underway, but
suffered a setback in October when the right-wing of
ACT-UP split out of the organization.
ACT-UP took a guilty liberal "whites can
only organize whites" position which
meant that they saw the best that we could
do was confront white people's individual
racism through consciousness-raising
workshops.
In our view, there was plenty of room
within ACT-UP for such disagreements.
Differences of perspective arise in every
organization. With the simple mechanism
of majority-rule democracy to make orga-
nizational decisions, a principled discus-
sion of differing views inevitably
strengthens the movement. Unfortunately,
the right-wing chose to deal with the dif-
ferences bureaucratically rather then demo-
cratically.
Oct. 18, supporters of the democratic
rights of the left-wing showed up to over-
turn the expulsion. Seeing they were out-
numbered, four members of the right-wing
locked themselves in another room and de-
clared that they were holding an ACT-UP
meeting! They even went so far as to align
themselves with the most racist, anti-lest
bian/gay force on campus by calling U-M
security to break up our legitimate ACT-
UP meeting!
Since then, ACT-UP has restored the
right of anyone wanting to fight AIDS to
participate in it. But despite our continued
appeals for unity, the right-wing clique
continues to hold private meetings by in-
vitation only and to call itself "ACT-UP."
On Oct. 4, in the end of a poorly at-
tended ACT-UP meeting, a resolution to
expel the left-wing was passed by a paltry
4 votes with 3 votes against and 4 absten-
tions. The right-wing clique used red-bait-
ing to cover their undemocratic action by
framing the resolution as "members of the
Revolutionary Workers League (RWL) are
kicked out of ACT-UP."
This referred specifically to three of us
who are supporters of the RWL. In prac-
tice however, the "expulsion" extended to
several other ACT-UP members who were
on the left-wing or who simply defended
the democratic rights of RWL members,
even though they were not members of the
RWL themselves.
At a subsequent ACT-UP meeting on
Revolutionary Workers League
TE uNR t P R.FITi THE ,,E
DRV$ RILie.
IRE b rSTE R .
By Pattrice Maurer
and David Rosenberg
It's time to name the violence. Re-
cently, ACT-UP/Ann Arbor has moved to
divorce itself from an abusive relationship
with the Revolutionary Workers' League
(RWL). In response to that move, mem-
bers of the RWL have used typically abu-
sive tactics - including verbal harass-
ment, physical intimidation, and defama-
tion of character - in their attempts to
coerce and manipulate ACT-UP members
into changing their minds.
tionally, RWL members have expropriated
ACT-UP phone lists, altered mailing lists,
and repeatedly lied to ACT-UP members.
The RWL claims that ACT-UP/Ann
Arbor has excluded them because they are
communists. This is not true. ACT-
UP/Ann Arbor respects the political posi-
tion of revolutionary socialism; we do not
respect the abusive tactics used by the
RWL in their attempts to gain control of
social change organizations.
They have issued flyers and press state-
ments in the name of ACT-UP and have.
even hijacked our meager treasury.
We of ACT-UP Ann Arbor appeal to
the members of this private group to re-
turn to ACT-UP. There is no reason why
we cannot work together in the same or-
ganization to build the AIDS action
movement. All that is needed is demo-
cratic rules which guarantee the rights of
all members to state their ideas. Further-
more, we challenge you to a public debate
on the real issues of the split.
To everyone who cares about fighting
racism, sexism, homophobia and the
AIDS crisis: join ACT-UP now. We meet
every Thursday at 7:30 pm in the Michi-
gan Union.
>recipitated split
and ant-racist organizations; their patroniz-
ing assumption that they know what is
best for the gay community and communi-
ties of color is a racist and heterosexist at-
titude.
We are writing because we really be-
lieve our slogan "Silence=Death," and we
feel the need to speak out about the abuse
that the RWL has visited upon us. Also,
the RWL has taken to calling itself ACT,:
UP and we would like students to know
with whom they are dealing.
For the present, ACT-UP/Ann Arbor
will be meeting in private residences so
that our meetings will not be disrupted by
the RWL. Our recent action against Deane
Baker has demonstrated that we will not
allow the RWL to keep us from being an
effective organization.
Next month, we will begin sponsoring,
an event regarding women and AIDS. Our
meetings will still be open to the public.
We meet every Thursday at 7:30; inter-
ested persons can get the location of each
meeting by calling either 665-1797 or
662-6282. Students should know that any
other "ACT-UP" meetings are, in fact,
meetings of the RWL.
We intend to stand firm in our resis-
tance to abuse and control by the RWL.
We have received formal statements of sol-
idarity in this from members of the steer-
ACT-UP/Ann Arbor respects the political position of
revolutionary socialism; we do not respect the
abusive tactics used by the Revolutionary Workers'
League in their attempts to gain control of social
change organizations.
The RWL has a long history of joining
campus groups and quite deliberately im-
peding those organizations from undertak-
ing - or even discussing - actions
which are not in accordance with the RWL
agenda. In their attempts to set the agenda
for ACT-UP, RWL members have domi-
nated discussions by the use of long
monologues, by being unwilling to com-
promise or even hear opinions counter to
their own, by distorting the words of those
arguing against them, and by calling any-
The members of ACT-UP reserve their
democratic right to work with whomever
they wish. Interestingly, the RWL also re-
serves that right in its own organization;
as explained by one RWL member, people
are not "invited" to join RWL until' they
are in "perfect agreement" with the RWL
position on all issues.
Other facts about the RWL reveal a
very conservative organization. RWL
claims that such concepts as co-operation
and consensus are unworkable: they claim